Gaibandha, Muslims attempt to rape a Catholic tribal

by Sumon Corraya

The young woman is 20 years old and belongs to the parish of Mariampur. Family is being pressured to withdraw the complaint. Last year, the local Christian community was attacked by police and Muslims for expropriation of land. Parish priest: "We want justice and security."

Gaibandha (AsiaNews) - A young Catholic tribal tribe has been raped by three Muslim men, and now lives in fear. The violent attack occurred in the village of Madarpur, in Gaibandha, in the diocese of Dinajpur.

On June 18, the 20-year-old girl was attacked by three criminals - including a security guard - but with her cries she was able to attract the attention of other tribals who managed to save her. After the attempted rape, the three men fled and are still at large. The young woman's family filed a complaint, but now denounces it is being threatened by criminals, who want the case to be dropped.

The three accused are Halim Shak, 28, a security guard at a sugar factory; Wear Amin, 35, and Abdul Latif, 35. The Catholic Tribal is a member of the Mariampur Parish. Last year her family was involved in a land dispute.The violence - a premeditated attack - was also witnessed by the police, deployed by the Muslims who wanted to expropriate the land. The young woman, along with her parents, were forced to leave the house and live in a slum.

Father Samson Marandy, parish priest of Mariampur, reports to AsiaNews that the victim "is already in a state of weakness because persecuted for their land. She lives like a refugee and has also had to suffer sexual assault by Muslims. " "Christians here - he adds - are the minority and remain victims of the Islamic majority. We as church leaders are on the part of our people. We want justice and security. "

In Bangladesh more than 90% of the population (over a total of more than 160 million inhabitants) profess Islam. Christians are just 600,000, of which about 350,000 Catholics. In October 2016, Pope Francis (who could go to the country next November) created the first cardinal, the archbishop of Dhaka Patrick D'Rozario. In an exclusive interview with AsiaNews he said: "The merit of my nomination goes to the people of Bangladesh, to their cultural traditions and to being a small flock. It is also a call to witness Christianity more and more among the Islamic and Hindu majority. "